1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of form-based input and more particularly to the rapid completion of fields in a form.
2. Description of the Related Art
Form based input is the enabling technology which permits the widespread distribution of applications across generic client platforms such as the conventional content browser. In the modern context of Web based forms, a markup language defined interface can form the principal conduit through which end users can interact with backend application logic. Often configured in the form of a Web page, the interface can be provided to the content browser by a content server and can take the form either of a pre-defined static page, or a dynamically generated page. Form input fields can be positioned within the interface through which user input can be accepted and posted to the backend application logic for further processing.
Completing a form can be of no consequence to the end user where only a few fields are to be completed. Even where the form is so complex as to include a multiplicity of fields across multiple pages like a tabbed notebook or wizard style form, completing the form can be of no consequence where the form is only to be completed occasionally. By comparison, where the fields of a form are to be completed repeatedly on many occasions, regardless of the number of fields in the form, the process can become tedious and inefficient.
To account for these inefficiencies, technologies have been developed to persist common field entries for forms. In this regard, Web browsers often include an auto-completion feature in which a user is presented with the set of values previously entered for a given field that has focus, such as last name, first name, and address. Other technologies including the wholesale copying of existing form values into a duplicate set of form values from which modifications can be made to produce a new set of form values. Yet other technologies permit an end user to save the current state of a form so that the end user can complete the form at a later time. None, however, permit the reuse of field values when completing a new instance of a form.